


Under Pressure

by Red_Flare



Category: Fallout 3
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Mild Language, Other, mild violence, mirelurks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-17
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-10-06 20:38:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10344123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Flare/pseuds/Red_Flare
Summary: The Lone Wanderer (Ruby) & Charon explore a flooded & abandoned vault for loot. Although it was abandoned by humans, some mirelurks have made it their new home. Charon hates mirelurks. Tensions arise & feelings are hurt. How will this effect their budding relationship?





	

“Looks like there's an abandoned vault not too far from here,” Ruby said, adjusting her glasses and checking the map on her pip-boy. “You wanna go check it out?” she turned to her ghoul companion. 

 

Charon simply looked at her and replied, “Wherever you choose to go, I shall follow.” 

 

Ruby frowned at him. “Jeez, don't sound  _ too _ excited, Char,” she said sarcastically, sticking her tongue out at Charon. “Well, off we go then!” She set off in the direction of the vault with Charon following a few paces behind.

 

They had been traveling together for a few weeks, ever since Ruby purchased Charon's contract from Ahzrukhal. She hadn't intended to employ his services when she bought it, she just wanted to free him from Ahzrukhal's control. In a way, she had, but she figured he would just go his own way, and she would go hers, but he had insisted that because Ruby held his contract, he would stay with her as her bodyguard. Ruby had been wandering the Capital Wasteland all alone up until that point since leaving vault 101, so she thought it might be nice to have some company to talk to and to watch her back when things got hairy. Ruby welcomed him to come along, but she made it clear to him that if he ever changed his mind and wanted to leave, that it was totally okay and she wouldn't stop him. Charon seemed confused by the idea, but agreed, and together they had set out into the ruins. 

 

Their relationship was slow to start and awkward at best. Ruby liked to talk a lot, telling Charon stories about the vault and her adventures in the wastes before meeting him. Charon was mostly quiet and kept to himself, but he would politely listen to Ruby's stories and respond every now and then. He didn't understand how Ruby was so positive and cheerful all the time when the world was literally crumbling around them, but he never questioned it and just let her be. Ruby was always trying to get Charon to break out of his shell a bit and tell her more about himself, but he resisted. She could tell it was a touchy subject, so she didn't push it too much, but she was dying to know more about her quiet companion. She liked to joke with and tease him sometimes too to see if she could get him to laugh, but so far, no luck. He never even cracked a smile, as far as she could tell. 

 

When it came to fighting, however, they worked really well as a team. Charon mostly stuck to his trusty shotgun while Ruby would alternate between shotguns, pistols, rifles, and her personal favorite, flamers. Ruby was small and quick, while Charon was big and strong, so they complemented each other in a fight. It seemed Charon was most vocal in a fight, giving words of warning to Ruby and shouting taunting phrases at the enemy. Ruby, on the other hand, was more silent and focused in a fight. Together, they were a deadly duo to come across. 

 

In the few weeks they'd been traveling together, they'd both become a little more comfortable around each other, but Charon was still very quiet and distant. Despite his grumpy appearance, he was actually kind of enjoying his travels with Ruby so far. She was definitely a better employer than Ahzrukhal, and it was sort of nice to be out and about, instead of stuck in the corner at the 9th circle bar in Underworld. However, he didn’t dare let himself truly enjoy his new job, in case things didn’t work out for one reason or another. He was so used to living in misery that he feared that any happiness he might experience could and would be snuffed out at any moment, and with all the shit that he and Ruby faced in the ruins, he wasn't necessarily wrong. So, he kept up his stoic demeanor and soldiered on. 

 

They arrived at the spot on the map where the vault should be, but didn't see an entrance anywhere. Ruby stared at her pip-boy, puzzled. “Hmm...where is it?” she pondered. “It should be right here next to the river.” She looked up, surveying the area for any landmarks that matched those on the pip-boy’s map. She saw the river in front of her and a ruined building behind her, just like the map showed, and yet...no vault door. Charon, meanwhile, was staring at the river, nervously. Where there was water, there were mirelurks, and he  _ hated _ mirelurks. They were fast, deadly, and a pain in the ass to kill. If you were lucky enough to hit one right in the face, it would go down pretty quickly, but they tended to guard their faces with their claws or duck down under their shells, so they were dangerous little bastards.  _ That was the one nice thing about being stuck in the 9 _ _ th _ _ Circle, _ Charon thought,  _ I never had to deal with mirelurks. Just drunk old ghouls _ .

 

Ruby was just about to give up on finding the vault entrance when she noticed an old toll booth nearby. They were standing in what was once a parking lot for the ruined building that was behind them, so she figured the toll booth was where people would pay to park their cars, but it still seemed out of place. As far as she could tell, the ruined building was just some old supermarket, so why would it have a toll booth in the parking lot? She walked up to the booth and looked through the broken window to see what was inside; on the floor was some broken glass, trash, and dust, but not much else. However, she did notice a big red button near a terminal on the control panel of the toll booth. Curious about what it would do, she reached her hand through the broken window to unlock the door from the inside. “Be careful,” Charon warned as he approached the booth from where he had been standing. 

 

“Don't worry, I got this,” Ruby said confidently, fiddling with the knob before it finally clicked and opened towards her. She carefully pulled her arm back out, doing her best to avoid the  jagged pieces of glass that remained in the window frame. 

 

She stepped inside and checked the terminal on the control panel. It was still in working condition, but it was locked with a password. “Hmph, nothing a little hacking can't fix,” Ruby said with a smirk. She cracked her knuckles and got to work decoding the terminal's password encryption. Charon looked on in silence from the doorway of the toll booth. This wasn't the first time he had seen her hack a terminal. She was quite good at it and Charon was more than a little impressed. For a kid who had spent her whole life stuck underground, she was really smart and adapted quickly to the chaos of the Capital Wasteland. After a few minutes of typing, Ruby finally exclaimed, “Aha! Got it!” She hit enter on the keyboard and the terminal displayed the main menu. It only had one command option on it: -->ACTIVATE VAULT ELEVATOR CONTROLS. “I knew there was something fishy about this booth,” Ruby said triumphantly, putting a hand on her hip. 

 

“What is it?” Charon asked, taking a step into the booth. 

 

“Looks like this booth leads to the vault entrance. Kinda weird. I guess they weren't all built like 101.” Ruby shrugged and hit enter on the keyboard once more to activate the elevator. The screen cleared, then new text appeared reading -->ELEVATOR CONTROLS ACTIVATED. PUSH RED BUTTON TO CONTINUE. Ruby turned to Charon and asked, “You ready?” 

 

He shrugged slightly, stepping further into the booth and shutting the door before grumbling, “Lead on.” Ruby pouted a little at his unenthusiastic response, but shrugged it off and turned back to the control panel, slapping the big red button down with the palm of her hand.

 

The whole booth shuddered causing Ruby and Charon to quickly brace themselves against the walls, and an alarm started wailing as the booth began to descend. The sound was deafening and the descent was slow, making for an agonizing trip downwards. When they finally reached the bottom, the booth hit the base with a loud thud, causing the whole thing to shudder once more, and the alarm finally stopped. Ruby shook her head violently to try to get the sound out of her head. “Jeez, I hope it's not like that on the way back up.” Charon grumbled, rubbing his temples which were throbbing with a fresh headache caused by the shaky elevator and loud alarm. The room they had descended to was very dark, except for one orange emergency light above the doorway to the vault. 

 

Charon opened the door of the booth and stepped outside, pulling out his shotgun and scanning the room. It was hard to see much of anything, but there didn't appear to be any immediate threats, so he turned back and nodded to Ruby, who exited the booth, pulling out her shotgun as well. They walked over to the door and Ruby flipped the switch on the side panel, sending the door shooting upwards. Immediately, a rush of water poured out from underneath the door and over their boots, filling the room ankle-deep. Ruby and Charon both gasped and jumped back in surprise. “Augh, my boots!” Ruby complained, lifting her legs one at a time to inspect her now soaked shoes. Charon merely grumbled wordlessly while leering at the dark, cold water all around them now. They peered through the open door to inspect the first room; from the looks of things, there must have been a breach somewhere in the vault where the nearby river was leaking through, because the whole place was filled ankle-deep with water, and it smelled rank. The metal walls were covered in rust and algae, and more water was steadily dripping from several spots in the ceiling, adding to the pool around their feet. All this, coupled with more of those same orange emergency lights over each of the doors and hallways, gave the whole place an eerie feel. 

 

“I don't like the look of this place,” Charon said, a scowl on his face. 

 

“Well, I don't either,” Ruby replied, “but we went through all the trouble to get down here, so we should at least take a look around. Besides, there's probably some cool loot down here.” Charon grumbled again; he had a very bad feeling about this place, and he still had a headache from the elevator, so he wasn't in the best mood. But when Ruby pressed forward into the flooded vault, he begrudgingly followed. 

 

They scoured the first few rooms they came across, checking for any meds, weapons, ammo, or armor, but didn't come up with much. What they did find, however, were signs of mirelurk presence. This did not improve Charon's already foul mood. 

 

Ruby took notice of how on-edge he was and tried to cheer him up. “Hang in there, Char. Just a few more rooms to check out, and we'll be outta here, I promise. Besides, if we do come across some mirelurks, that just means we'll be eating crab tonight!” She gave him a wink and nudged him with her elbow, but Charon was not amused. He just looked away from her as they kept trudging their way through the water. 

 

As they explored the vault, they came across several areas that were completely flooded with no way of accessing them without diving into the dark, slimy water, and there was no way in hell they were going to do that. Some doors had even been sealed shut, but Ruby knew better than to try and force them open, lest she unleash a wall of water that would sweep them both away. They also came across more and more evidence of mirelurk presence, yet no mirelurks; this just made Charon even more anxious. If there really were mirelurks here, he'd rather just get it over with right now and blast them all with his shotgun, but they hadn't come across a single one yet; only some molted shells and a few nests full of eggs, which they had smashed. The anxiety was making Charon's headache even worse. He wanted to get out of this damn vault and never come back, but Ruby never liked to leave any stone un-turned, so they continued on, his agitation growing with each step.

 

Ruby herself was also getting a little anxious.  _ Why haven’t we found anything yet? _ she wondered.  _ No mirelurks, no cool loot; just some stimpaks here and there and a pistol or two. _ She was beginning to think this was all just a big waste of time, and she felt bad for dragging Charon along through all this. She didn’t know much about her ghoul companion, but she knew how much he hated mirelurks. As they wandered the halls of the vault, she did her best to try and make light of the tense situation with small talk and bad jokes, but Charon was even more unresponsive than usual.  _ Just a few more rooms, _ Ruby thought to herself, nervously.  _ There's gotta be  _ something _ worthwhile down here. _

 

According to the floor plan that Ruby had downloaded from one of the vault terminals onto her pip-boy, there was only one area left that they hadn't checked. They trudged through the water up to a door with faded lettering on it reading “RESIDENTIAL AREA.” Ruby flipped a switch, opening the door to a long hallway with several doors on either side. “This is the last place we haven't checked yet,” she began saying, “well, other than the flooded areas, of course. After this, we can get the hell out of here and dry our boots by a nice warm--” 

 

Suddenly Charon cut her off. “Wait, do you hear that?” he said in a hushed tone with a hand raised as a gesture of silence. A faint, distant scuttling could be heard somewhere down the hall. 

 

Ruby hadn’t heard anything, so she tried to brush off the tension with a joke. “All I can hear is my stomach rumbling, ‘cause I am starving!” 

 

Charon was staring intently down the hallway, gripping his shotgun and straining to listen for the sound again. “Ruby, keep it down, I think--” 

 

But Ruby wasn't paying attention, so she continued. “Seriously Char, I'm so hungry I could eat a deathclaw! I bet those things taste pretty--” 

 

Charon's headache and agitation finally got the better of him and he shouted angrily at Ruby. “WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS??” Charon's gravely voice echoed off the metal walls and stunned Ruby into silence; she had never seen Charon so mad before. 

 

She shrunk away from him as he glared at her, a lump in her throat as she could feel tears stinging the corners of her eyes.  _ I knew it-- he hates me, _ she thought to herself.

 

Suddenly, the faint scuttling sound from before grew louder as several mirelurks emerged from the rooms at the end of the hallway, and began rushing towards them after being alerted by Charon's shouting. “ _ Shit _ !” Charon hissed through his teeth as he cocked his shotgun and took aim at the closest mirelurk.  _ BLAM! _ The blast blew off the creature's right claw, causing it to screech in pain. “ _ Help me _ !” he shouted back at Ruby, who was still frozen in shock. She shook her head to snap out of it, raised her own shotgun and blasted another mirelurk in the legs. Charon and Ruby kept firing as the mirelurks scuttled furiously down the hallway towards them, snapping their claws in rage. “You like that?  _ Huh? _ ” Charon taunted menacingly, as he took out one mirelurk after another. He and Ruby were able to take out quite a few of them before they got too close, but several of them still managed to get near enough to take swipes at the two. One of them managed to cut Charon's leg pretty badly with its claw while he was reloading and he groaned in pain before blasting the crab right in the face. 

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Ruby and Charon were finally able to take down the last of the remaining mirelurks, Charon making sure to double-tap each one. They stood there amidst the pile of broken claws and shells, catching their breath, ears still ringing from the echoed sounds of their shotgun blasts off the rusted metal walls. “Glad that's over,” Charon muttered as he pulled out a stimpak and jammed it in his injured leg with a groan. The stimpak slowly began to work its magic, mending his leg and even alleviating his headache. All his anxiety and worry seemed to fade as well as he realized this was the last area of the vault, meaning they wouldn't be encountering anymore mirelurks.  _ Thank God. _ He glanced over at Ruby. She was turned away from him, standing very still with her head down, still clutching her shotgun. “You alright?” he asked. She said nothing. “Ruby?” 

 

She flinched at his voice, then paused before quietly saying, “...I'm fine. Let's just keep moving.” She moved past him down the hallway, avoiding eye contact as she continued to stare down at the floor. Charon followed after her, but he took notice of this sudden change in Ruby's behavior. 

 

They walked slowly and in silence down the hallway. The only sound now was the sloshing of their boots as they waded through the water towards the first set of doors that weren't sealed or broken. Charon stared at the back of Ruby's head as they walked. Why was she being so quiet? Was she hurt during the fight and didn't say anything? She didn’t even loot any of the mirelurks, and she  _ never  _ missed a chance to loot a corpse. He decided to finally speak up. “You sure you're alright Ruby? You're being awfully quiet.” She stopped walking, but didn't turn around. Charon stopped just behind her. They both stood there in silence for a moment, before Charon spoke again. “Ruby--” 

 

“I'm fine!” Ruby said forcefully, but with a tone in her voice that suggested she was on the verge of tears. “Look, just...how 'bout we split up to search these two rooms, okay?” Ruby said, much calmer this time, but still wavering. She still had her back to him as she spoke. “You take the one on the right, I'll take the one on the left.” Charon was confused; they  _ never _ split up. He was her bodyguard, after all, so how could he protect her if they were separated? Still, she seemed pretty serious about this, and the threat of the mirelurks was gone, so he did as she asked, albeit reluctantly. 

 

“As you wish,” he said quietly as he headed into the room on the right. Ruby stood there in the hallway for a moment before finally heading into the room on the left. 

 

She made her way around the room, feebly searching through the wreckage for anything useful, but her mind was too shrouded in negative thought to focus on her search.  _ He hates me. He thinks I'm annoying. The only reason he stays with me is because of that stupid contract. Without it, he would leave me in a heartbeat...just like dad did. _ She couldn't fight back her tears anymore, so she walked over to the ruined bed in the center of the room, sat on the edge facing the wall, and wept bitterly into her hands, certain that her only companion would much rather be working for an asshole like Ahzrukhal than her.

 

Meanwhile, across the hall, Charon's mind was racing with confusion as he rummaged through the wreckage of the flooded bedroom he was searching.  _ Why is Ruby acting so strange all of a sudden? It didn't look like she was injured in the mirelurk fight. She was acting like her normal, silly self up until-- _ Charon dropped the box he was searching through as realization hit him like a ton of bricks.  _...Up until I yelled at her. _  With the chaos of the mirelurk fight, he had almost forgotten. His shoulders slumped, remembering the look on her face. She had looked hurt and even afraid. He'd never seen her look like that before, not even when facing deathclaws or radscorpions.  _ God, what is wrong with me? _ he thought.  _ She's my employer, I have no right to raise my voice to her or order her around. Besides...she's a good kid, and she doesn't deserve to be treated like that. I should apologize. _ Charon turned to face the doorway. 

 

Both he and Ruby had left the doors open, so he could see into the opposite room where Ruby was. His heart sank when he saw her. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back towards him, her shoulders were shaking, and he could hear the muffled sounds of her sobs. _ God, I'm such an asshole, _ he thought to himself, chest stinging with the realization that he had made Ruby cry.  _ That poor girl was just trying to make me feel better, and I snapped at her like a goddamn jackass. _ He ran his hands over his face, angry at himself for what he'd done.  _ I _ need  _ to apologize. _ He took a deep breath and made his way across the hall. 

 

Ruby was still swimming in negative thoughts and trying but failing to hold back her tears, so she didn't even notice when Charon approached her on her left side. “Ruby...” he said softly, startling her. She quickly turned her face away from him to hide her puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. Her red hair hung down the left side of her face, obscuring it from view. Charon already knew the damage he'd done, but somehow Ruby hiding her face from him just made his chest ache with guilt even more. Before he could say anything else, Ruby spoke first. 

 

“Charon, I...I'm sorry,” she said, voice still shaky from crying. 

 

“...What??” Charon sputtered, baffled by her statement. 

 

“I'm sorry...for everything,” she continued. “For making you come down here with me, dragging you through this awful place, and just...for the way I am.” More tears began to well up in her eyes. “I know you hate me and think I'm annoying. I...I don't mean to be, but I know I am...Probably why I don't have any friends anymore.” Her lips quivered as more tears streamed down her face. She sniffled a bit before continuing. “Listen, I want you to know that what I said when we first met is still true. You don't have to force yourself to stick around with me because of some stupid contract. If you wanna leave...I'll understand. After all...everybody else left me...even my dad.” Another wave of tears came pouring down her face as she clutched at the fabric covering her knees. 

 

Charon stood there, dazed and heartbroken at what he was hearing. Had she really thought that he hated her this whole time? He realized he wasn't the most cheerful or friendly person, but he hated himself for making her feel this way. The ache in his chest was almost too much to bear anymore. He sat down beside her on the edge of the bed. “Ruby, I don't hate you,” he said, softly. “I know I tend to come off as a grumpy jerk all the time, but I actually like traveling with you.” At this, Ruby's grip loosened on the fabric of her pants and she tilted her head towards him slightly, tears still streaming down her face. Charon continued, “And I don't think you're annoying. I know I'm not as...responsive as I could be when you talk, but I  _ am _ listening. I'm just...not really used to anyone actually wanting to talk to me or hearing what I have to say, mostly because I’m a ghoul. And none of my previous employers ever bothered to talk to me, so I'm used to being silent and ignored.” He shifted slightly, feeling strange about revealing this information about himself, but he noticed Ruby had stopped crying, so he kept going. “Ruby, you have nothing to apologize for. I'm the one who needs to apologize. I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. It was a jackass thing for me to do, and I'm sorry.” 

 

Ruby's face was now almost fully turned towards him, but it was still obscured by her hair. Her expression had changed as she listened to Charon speak. She had a mix of awe and pity on her face; humbled at the fact that he was sharing these things with her, and sorrowful that no one had ever given him the opportunity to do so before. This was the most he had ever spoken to her, and she could tell that every word he spoke was sincere. “I never meant to hurt you, Ruby.” Charon said in a somber tone. He paused, looking at Ruby, then hesitated a moment before he finally lifted his hand and gently brushed aside the hair blocking her face, tucking it behind her ear while using his thumb to wipe away the tears lingering on her cheek beneath her glasses. Ruby’s watery green eyes widened, stunned at the unexpected and intimate gesture. She could feel her heartbeat quicken and her face get hot all of a sudden. Charon spoke again. “Could you ever forgive a grumpy old bastard like me?” 

 

Ruby's eyes welled up with tears of joy and a smile spread across her face as all her fears and worries about Charon hating her disappeared. She choked out a laugh and threw her arms around Charon's waist, gripping him in a tight side-hug. Charon tensed up and lifted his arms in shock. No one had  _ ever  _ hugged him before, so this was  _ not _ what he was expecting at all. “Of course I forgive you, you big dope!” came Ruby's muffled voice, as she buried her face in Charon's chest. Charon was still in shock from the sudden display of forgiveness and affection, but slowly he eased up and awkwardly but gently wrapped his arm around Ruby, who was still hugging him tightly. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that things were going to be okay. Ruby finally released him from her vice-grip and wiped her face on her sleeves, chuckling awkwardly as she did so. “Come on, Char,” She said, smiling up at him. “Let's get the hell out of here.” 

 

Charon nodded and smiled at Ruby for the first time saying, “As you wish.”

 

They left the room together, Charon walking by Ruby's side, instead of following behind like he usually did. As they made their way back to the elevator, Ruby was oddly quiet again. Worried, Charon asked, “Is there something wrong?” 

 

Ruby, who was lost in thought, was shaken back to reality at his question. “Oh, no, it's just...I was just thinking about what you said...about how no one has ever really talked to you before. It made me sad.” She scoffed at herself and said, “Here I was complaining about having no friends anymore, when you've never really had one.” 

 

“Well,” Charon said, hands fidgeting a little, “that's not entirely true...” Ruby looked up at him, confused. “...I have  _ one _ .” he said, glancing down at her from the corner of his eye, grinning slightly. It took a minute before Ruby got what he meant, but when it hit her, her face lit up and happy tears began stinging the corners of her eyes once more. 

 

She wanted to hug him again, but she restrained herself, choosing instead to just nudge him with her elbow, laugh and say, “You're such a dork, Char.” 

 

They left the vault, happy to leave that miserable place behind and get on dry ground once more. They never did find anything of value in that vault, but they emerged with a newfound respect and admiration for each other, and that was worth more than all the caps in the Capital Wasteland.

**Author's Note:**

> The vault in this story doesn't really correlate to any actual vault in the game. It has similar characteristics of some of the in-game vaults, but it's not referring to any vault in particular.
> 
> Thank you for reading my story. I haven't written anything in YEARS, so please forgive the simplicity of my writing skills. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. ^^;


End file.
